Probably the biggest hurdle most guitar players go through is learning how to consistently play the barre chord shapes and actually get the notes to ring out.

I’ve finally figured out, after many years of doing it “the old way,” that if I turn it around and start with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers instead of starting with the barre, it works a whole lot better.

So check out the video, this is a youtube embed so it should work on most platforms. And there are downloads below. Please leave comments or share on facebook if you like it.

Hey Grif, I’m a long-time member and fan of your teachings. This is a great approach to bare chords and a simplified methodology for what I lovingly call “chord entanglement,” a method of mixing chords together in tangible phrasing. I truly enjoy your teaching methods because they are easy to follow and a direct approach. In truth, the only thing I’m missing is Grif’s Country Crash Course! What’s the matter there pardner? Don’tcha like countree?
Your Faithful Fan
Mr. Music

wow Griff, before i got into you with\BGU, that’s all i played, until you showed me how to play little cords. Bieng i was the rtyhum guitar player in many bands and once in a while did a solo, now i feel like poor Eric Clapton, his left hand has nerve damage, and it’s hard to use the finger to bar accross the fretboard. so i got a finger exiser and use my finger to push all four buttons down, to build up the strength.
i’ll stick to the little cords for now. thank, Griff.

I remember when I first tryed these,thought I’d never get it! But its worth it in the end makes every thing so much easier! But I find it much easier to start off by using I mini bar across the E & B strings & play a partial chord, just to make the change quicker, then bring my first finger up to make the bar after, or just bring my thumb over to get the low note, it just feels more natural to me to lead with my first finger!

I love to play barre chords. It’s like you said you can play a LOT of songs. A guy showed me years ago and it was awesome once i learned.You can vary them tons of ways and make all kinds of different sounds.Knowing your bottom string you can figure out a lot of songs and start Jammin! so all of you who think its hard it’s well worth it! Later Gator

What I realised with barré chords was that I was trying to lay my first finger in a perfectly straight line at right angles to the FB and at the same time I was trying to keep it “face down” and flat, perhaps because that’s the way it looks in chord diagrams! Then I realised that if I held my first finger on its side slightly and curved very slightly, just like Griff does in fact in this video, the whole thing became more “doable”. By laying the other fingers down first it forces you to adopt that position with the first finger.

At my recent Guitars for Vets class the instructor taught this technique of barring chords with the middle, ring and pinky first then placing the index finger afterwards. It does seem to work better than the other way!😀

Great timing. My French brother-in-law called round last week and attempted to explain this very thing to me, in French. Naturally, I looked wise and nodded a lot. Now, with a bit of luck, next time he comes around he will think he got through to me!
Well explained, as always.

Hi Griff, you touched on something in this video that I’ve been meaning to bring up – when you raised the guitar up to demonstrate how easy it is to get that left-hand position with the guitar higher than holding it in your lap. Most of us, when we are playing live, play STANDING UP. And the guitar is possibly held higher that way (unless you’re Jimmy Page with it down around your knees!).
What I wanted to bring up is – Maybe you can give us a lesson standing up? And maybe compare the guitar position to sitting down? I think many students would benefit from some guidance on how to actually hold the guitar.
Cheers.

If y’all are old enough to remember George Harrison, he strapped his guitar higher than most other guitarists, which gave him that raised guitar that Griff was talking about. It’s served me well over the last 50 years, as I don’t have very large hands.

Hey Griff,
This is a great lesson and a good refresher. When I started BGU I was halted by the Bar Chord lesson… I had to go away from it and just keep practicing the Bar Chords before I could advance. Then I got side tracked learning other BGU Lessons in courses and then Purchased BGUv2. Now back on track again.
But I reckon the HARDEST BAR CHORD is when you play a Blues in Key of E and you arrive at the B7 that is a very big stretch 2nd Fret to 6th Fret with the Pinky but you showed us this one recently and I am practicing that stretch. The simple way out is Play your Blues in A7th as the 1 chord then D7 1V and then E7 V. but not everyone wants to sing in A…. All good. Great lesson.

Mark,
I have the same problem, especially moving from an open chord to a barre with a 5th string root. The solution I stumbled upon completely by accident is to keep your fingers as close to the strings as possible when moving from open position to 5th string barre. I don’t know why it works but it does – if I lift my hand too much my fingers seem to get lost, but if I am almost touching the strings when I move my hand my fingers seem to somehow form the major position by themselves. After that it’s just practice, practice and more practice. hope this helps.

Too many comments to read them all, but great instruction, as usual! One of my early guitar mentors taught me the importance of the barre chord. One of the bands I play in is a church band, and many songs are in Eb or Bb, or in F, where the 4 is a Bb. I can easily play in all those keys without a capo, cause barre chords have set me free!

Griff, Nice example of how to play bar chords. In one of your courses you mentioned starting with a basis E shape cord using your 2,3,4 fingers, thus allowing your 1st finger to make the bar as you slide your E shape down the fret board.
Just some additional info to help anyone learning Bar chords.
I have most of your courses from Blues Guitar Unleashed,Beginning Blues Guitar,Austic Delta Blues Slide Guitar,Acoustic Guitar Unleashed,Soloing Without Scales,Blues Gig In A Box,Strumming & Rythem Mastery.
Love your work but would ask if possible not only for myself but maybe for the other follower’s of your lessons that you could include the name of each bar chord and also the count per measure.
Griff, I have viewed heaps of music lessons over the internet and most are not worth the money….But in your case your course’s are up there with the best and are worth investing in.
But in saying this,if you could up the level of your courses to include strumming patterns and the count per measure in all your courses…. You would have the the best courses for any beginner or upcoming blues guitarist that money could buy.

Been playing barre chords for a while and it took me a long time to get fast enough to use them so the tip about placing fingers first then the barre may be the trick. But when I play a song with all barre chords my arm nearly falls off by the end but it is slowly getting easier. Thanks Griff

Well done Griff; you have a way about your teaching that makes me WANT to practice, even when I don’t WANT to practice!!! I look forward to any lessons that come, anxious to LEARN!! Thanks a lot. Be Happy & Healthy & keep em coming!!

PLAYING RYTHUM GUITAR AND SOME LEAD FOR 40 YEARS , A LOT OF MY SONGS HAVE BAR CORDS. I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS FINGER STRENGTH. NOW WITH ARTRIST MY BAR FINGER IS WEAK. SO I REALLY HAVE TO CONCENTRATE ON THAT FINGER PRESSUER.

Finally, a lesson that was NOT NEEDED by me. Barre chords with the “e-shape” including the minor chord made by simply shifting down one string is so ingrained that I do not have to think. It’s as if I have hand memory. Where I do need help is in fingering some of the other chords using a barre such as Maj 7th chords, 9th chords, etc. I’d love to see more lessons that cover the above mentioned. Thanks so much, Griff!

Someone asked to see the “F” chord barred. Just move the “G” barred chord down one whole step to the first fret, and you have the barred “F” chord. Someone else asked for tab to see what the “pinky” is doing when the barred chord is mover up the fret board: the chord shape (strings being fingered) never changes for a major chord (G,A,B,C,D,E,F,) the fingering remains the same, moving the barr chord up and down the neck is all that changes. Also, if you start with an “Am” on the first fret, move up one fret and place your barr, you have an “A” sharp minor, move up one fret you have a “Bm”, and so on. The strings you finger does not change for all the minor chords up and down the fret board. Therefore the string your “pinky” is fingering in the open chord position (first fret) does not change when you apply the barr all up and down the fret board. The hardest chord shape for most is the barred “B” chord and “B”flat. But thats for on down the road.

Griff,
I was not able to download the wmv version. I tried to download the mp4 but it just brought up the video playing. I just downloaded it with a program I have to download you tube videos. I will convert it to wmv when I get home. I recall the video you and Marty Schwartz did three or four years ago on barre chords. Thanks for revisiting this subject again. I have been playing a long time and although I can play barre chords I am far from comfortable with them.

You have a lot of comments here so I don’t know if this was mentioned. The first finger when you barre, is only playing the 1st,2nd and 6th strings on a major chord, and not all six strings. This helped me when I started putting the pressure on 1,2 and 6 strings. Thanks for the tips Griff.

Thanks for the tips – one thing I noticed is that in addition to keeping the thumb vertical, it helps to keep it in line with the index finger – seems to require less pressure that way to keep good tone and which helps if your thumb joint tends to be sore from arthritis/over use

Griff. Thanks for this. I too have been struggling with the barre cords.First, I had to figure out what minor or 7th cord rings almost the same and play that instead of the major, being a three fingered player. But I’m still too slow with the changes. I hope this lesson kicks my playing back into gear. T.F.P.

I learned on an electric guitar when I was a kid. The funny thing is I learned the barre chords FIRST!! A huge turning point in my playing was when I figured out that I could change chords without having to move my fingers…but just slide from fret to fret to change the chords or key. It was SO huge that I still remember the moment I realized it. So…as a result I struggled with OPEN chords much more.

I sort of agree with Keymoss. But then again, teachers have to learn to teach as well so as long as everyone improves, then we’re going in the correct direction.
The barre cords were like lesson 1 and I just didn’t get them so I skipped around and went back to you-tube to get better at the major / minor chords.
But some of this should help…especially the knee above the waist and thumb pointing up. Maybe I can get back on track w/ BGU after some practice.

One of my difficulties is my thumb keeps extending horizontal to the guitar’s neck instead of vertical! Also it seems easier to do as you showed us in this video to place fingers two, three, and four before placing the index finger on the barre. Thanks for that tip!

I’ve been suggling for months to do Barre cords.Why oh why did you not show
us in the beging this lesson and one more thing why dont u put up the tabs? because I have great difficulty in following what your fingers are doing especially the pinky.
One very unhappy subscriber.
kiond regards Cockney Arthur.

I drove my one guitar teacher crazy by not using my forth and fifth fingers in the positions that they should be in . I play with them switched . dont know why i do this but i still cover the strings . playing the guitar on the left leg is actually the right way to play it . over the right is not that comfortable as far as i can tell . it seems relaxed but its not . try it over the left leg and elevate it . to sum it all up do what is comfortable for you.

ALWAYS LIKE WATCHING YOU PLAY! A MAJORITY OF THE SONGS I HAVE WRITTIN IN THE PAST 40 YEARS. I USED ALOT OF BAR CHORDS. NOW I’M NOT IN A BAND , OR REALLY PLAY PROFESSIONAL ANY MORE. LOSE OF FINGER STRENGTH. I ALWAYS HAD ALL STRINGS BARRED DOWN HARD ON THE FRET BOARD. USED SOME PICKING STYLES THAT USED ALL 6 STRINGS. TODAY, ITS TUFF TOO DO . YOU MADE ME FEEL, NOT SO MUCH AS A OLE WEAK FINGERED FART.LOL. JUST PICKING THE STRINGS THAT NEED TO BE BARRED I’M ALWAYS USING MY FINGER “DIGI FLEX” FOR BUILDING STRENGTH. I HAVE ONE SONG THATS ALL BAR CORDS, AND POWER CHORDS. CALLED STREET WALKER. IT’ NOT A VIDEO , JUST A DEMO ON YOU TUBE. IF YOU CAN’T FIND IT, TRY SATREET WALKER. MY FIRST SHOT AT YOU TUBE. MY GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO PLAY AS GOOD AS YOU DO. IF YOUR EVER PLAYING IN THE SOUTH BAY, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR BAND PLAY AND MEET YOU. GOD BLESS, PAUL DRAGOTTO

Hi Griff, I’ve been trying to do barre chords since I took up the guitar which is only since end of Jan 2013. I just gave up out of frustration but, I just watched your video & played along & surprise surprise I have just played my first barre chord, not to good but its a start which I thought I would never conquer, so well done for the advice & tuition, brilliant.

I am a beginner. This will help me so much in being able to play and meet my goal. I want to be able to play jazz, rock, country and the blues with anybody by spring. in just learning this free lesson I feel I am on my way to meeting my goal. My wife and grown children don’t believe that I can accomplish this. I have an accoustic electric and an electric guitar. I have meet so many people at the guitar center who have encouraged me to practice, practice, practice. I try to practice a half hour a day to learn the scale. This is excellant

Wonderful, wonderful, priceless, now I need time, and another wrist and forearm. Kidding. The strength will come with time. Years ago when I first started had you been my neighbor Arm strength wouldn’t be an issue. Now however after about 5 minutes I have to stop because it hurts. Maybe the lifting up could do the trick. You are a wonderful man for going into you instructions with this helpful detail. Thank You That saying about old dogs and new tricks..it’s not true. HAGD.

hi just to say, how good your tutorials are. Ive been ill for 6 months ,so ive got a lot to catch up on .the bar chords are very helpful. Cant wait to start playing your tutorials etc ,keep on sending them .Icertainly recommend them to friends .Thanks again peter.

I must say; Barre chords make more sence now than they did in 70’s when I tried to learn them!
I never knew how much pressure to put on index finger and all i ever got was a thud; so I scrapped Barre chords. Although when i played Bass, my knowledge of them helped me to follow on Bass. I mostly like Bass now; but I don’t want to forget what I know on rhythm guitar. I am 75. I hav a few friends i play with. we don’t consider ourselves talented, but we enjoy our music.
Rose from Wash.

This is out of the park on time. I was struggling with lesson 3 BGU and decided to set the first 3 fingers for the bar and then lay the bar last. I wasn’t to sure but it was working. Having this vid come along reassured myself that I choose correct and am on cloud 9 . Thanks for these follow up instructionals Griff they are like having you assist with the course . It is a great reinforcement.

Hi Rick, it seems to be a psychological thing that applies to most chords, especially ‘C’ – the hand stretches more easily away from the body than towards it – the same as giving and generosity. Even starting with the pinky as anchor works best – a bit like the trim-tab on the rudder of a big ocean liner.

Thanks for the insight – especially the point about the knee/neck position – it really does make it easier to get things ringing out. Incidentally what should the hand position be for the D / Dm C7 shapes? I find my thumb tends to want to point back up the neck.

Hey I really like your tutoring and understanding the guitar and videos I would like to make a suggestion although I enjoy your emails giving in-depth details on playing and understanding the guitar I think, in fact I know that you have a great formula you could publish on hubpages.com you could earn money with your hubs and share your experience at the same time building a large following and receiving accolades from the hubs you have published all publications are copyrighted by hubpages automatically which will give your work protection. There are no hubbers who are doing what you are doing in regard to guitar tuitions so I feel you would be greatly appreciated by many users. Take a look at hubpages and see the potential for your services. All the best Mark

Hi Griff, Nice lesson as always I do have your Beginning Blues Guitar Book and the lesson of Straight Down 6th Ave as you no are all barre chords which are good to practice and it has a nice arrangement, Thanks Griff . John. (spain)

I was just thinking about this the other day,was going to suggest it to you. I learned how to play the E chord with my 1nd 2rd 3th fingers and bared with with the 4th and learned to play a ton of songs. So this is a great lesson Griff your students will love this once they get it down. My sisters boyfriend taught me to play when I was layed up with a broken leg,she bought me my first Guitar and he show me this and many other chords like playing the A chord with my 2nd finger and sliding it down and bar all 6 strings with my 4th to play chords all down the neck.

When I first started on guitar the hardest chord I had trouble with was the F chord where you cover the two high noted strings with your first finger, and I have scars on my finger to give you an idea of how bitchin’ of a time I had with that chord, so when I found out about barre chords which did come relatively easy for me it was a life saver in playing that chord. Even now I still struggle a little in forming the F chord the old way. Barre chords are magic when you get fast and good at using them. Very good lesson Grif.

Hey there, I just wanted to see if you ever have any problems with hackers?
My last joomla blog at http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/barre-chord-starter/comment-page-3/ was hacked and I ended up losing months of hard work due to no backup.
Do you have any solutions to stop
A refreshing perspective on the topic.I must ask though,
but where did you get your blog template: did you come across it someplace or did you prepare it by yourself?
With a theme like the one you have, my blog could really stand out more.

“Barre chord starter ” a HUGE help. Especially placing the non-barre fingers first and, perhaps even more helpful, raising the leg on which the guitar rests to be sure knee is higher than hip – made barre chords immediately easier, thank you!!!!

day 5 — WOW! I tried something different this evening. before trying the barre chords I tried a couple of songs our worship team will be doing this Sunday first. And maybe it was because I played something else first, it was my best night yet for barre chords! I was surprised when I went from G (which I can usually start well) to B to C to A that all strings run out clearly — as I got a bit more into it and my arm started to get tired it deteriorated a bit — but I did it!!!

Griff this is great!

When i left my day 4 comment yesterday, I was pretty sure it would take a long time. I know I am not there yet but am encouraged!

I will admit it. This is hard! But I am trying to focus on where this is going to take me. And that makes me want to move on. I have been using a tool at http://www.guitarstringsforlife.com/?page=app1 to help me get the positions on the fretboard – focusing on the 6th string as it lets me do. This along with knowing where to look for the root of the barre chord is helping me move forward.

Thank you Griff.

When my 30 days (or however long it takes) to get this shape ringing clearly, what do you suggest for next steps with barre chords?

I will try your method since I’ve tried just about every other method to learn to play barre chords. Plus, the problems that I have with barre chords is that my wrist hurts when I try playing them after a while, rather attempting to play barre chords, and I feel myself pressing real hard with my thumb against the back of the guitar neck just to finger the notes. How can I avoid the pain in my wrist?
V/r

Day 2 — I am getting success sometimes — and using the first four chords, G, B, C, A, repeated — it is starting to sound like Dock of the Bay — so even though I have a long way to go — it is a start — and who knows, maybe I will lick this Barre Chord barrier that I believe has kept me from moving on in my playing – it has not been hurting like previous attempts — sure it is getting a bit unpleasant but sticking to around 10 minutes with each attempt seems best for me now.

Really big thanks! I am looking forward to moving ahead.

Can you imagine getting started with different things and whenever barre chords is the next step not going ahead? — seems like where I have been for a l-o-n-g time.

wow — I have been trying to get barre chords — one set of lessons I had indicated to me that I needed to have the barre straight and no turning — my arm hurt so much that I had to choose continue playing without barre chords or suffer. so I stopped my pursuit. I had a lesson recently that let me do the barre but not so much the other fingers. Your video is great — I am hoping for a breakthrough — reading some comments below — I hope to spend the two 15 minute session a day — and see where I am one month from now — thank you

My computer was down for a while; it really erks me to be shut-out like that.
I get that old sinking feeling, (from falling behind), that I encountered in University.
However, with super-high-quality instruction like this, Griff transports my knowledge base
ahead a few light-years and I’m floating man. Awesome good work.
Congrat.’s & Thanks

Playing barre is simple and quck for changing chords. Eg Barre F (using E) you can get F7 by lifting the pinky and Fm by lifting the middle finger. I encourage landing the pinky and ring finger together then follow by the middle and ultimately the first finger on the rest.You can do it on G ,A etc. I find this is the best way to overcome the weak pinky issue. 10-15 mins in the morning and evening I see results within a month.Now I can barre effortlessly.This is my experience.

This video cut out on me. I practice two songs that are almost total barre chords, ten times each twice a day. (Am a beginner) One is Sittin By the Dock of the Bay and the other is wild things. It really gets my fingers going to barre chords are not as scary and impossible as they were at the very beginning. You’ve shared a lot with me so I thought I’d share that with you. Thanks. Laurie

Griff, thanks so much for this lesson. I love the song “Old Love” and particularly the
Unplugged version of it by Eric Clapton. It only has about 6 barre chords and relatively simple
shapes, but I could not get the transition from A to G to F barres and do it smoothly.

I look forward to applying this method so hopefully I can play this favorite tune without
the hesitation. It HAS to be easier than planting the barre first.

thanks griff i dont seem to have a lot of trouble with bare cords its when i see them playing only half of the bare cord that confuses me simular to the lesson on little cords you taught us they seem to do it a lot in jazz that i watch thanks griff ive learnd so much from your lessons les

You hit the nail on it’s head!!! I’m one of those who has a hard time with barre cords I welcome the instruction and enjoy all of your on line lessons. BY THE WAY YOU ARE ONE HELL OF A GUITAR PLAYER!!!!!!!!! Lou.

All well and good but moving from G (3rd fret) to B (7th fret) & C (8th fret) is one hell of a problem for me (probably just me) because the shape has to alter to accomodate for the narrower frets. I have never mastered “squeezing” of a chord shape into a much smaller space the closer to the body of the guitar and as a result all my chords have to be played the other end. Any hints please? I am using a Classical Guitar.
Thanks

I have had trouble with barre chords, and Griff sure makes it easier to understand.
I have had problem with the one finger as it will not bend and it will hinder changing chords and brings about frustration. It is the ring finger on the left hand at the knuckle right behind the finger nail. I try to work with it, but sure is a battle. Going from G chord to the C chord is really my biggest problem as it will hit other string and really make it sound horrible. If anyone has any ideas I am open to possible solutions.

Brilliant, You’ve really hit the nail on the head with your method and explanation which will give lots of people including myself,confidence when learning and practicing barre chords. By far the best guitar tutor around. Will be purchasing one of your courses in the near future. Cheers Griff.

Thanks Griff. I thought on the barr finger you had to hold down all of the strings on that fret. So do I have it right that you only hold down the notes for that cord and mute the rest. And is that the same for the major cords on the 5 string where you use the A major shape? Thanks again Merrill

Hi Griff. I have been watching your videos and they are among the best I’ve seen.
With regards to “barr Chords”.
When begining, I learnt to play the 1st position E, A, and Am chords with my second, third and forth fingers. Then when you need to “barr”, the fingers already “know” where to go, you just move up the neck and “plonk” down the first finger “barr”. With practice, and some pressure, the notes start to “clean up” and get a clean “ring” to them. This means you only have to learn one finger pattern. I hope this “hint” helps some beginers. I strugged for a long time till I started to practice this technique.

Once again an excellent video giving a useful tip on barre chords.I have had problems with these chords and finding the correct pressure and fingering to sound the notes clearly and mute out unwanted notes.This video has helped me a lot in this respect although I must try harder to effectively mute the 1st and 2nd strings which sometimes sound out.Terrific tuition,you make learning a fun thing.

You are a really good teacher. Simply because you not only want to make money but, you TRULY want to teach. Some teachers will talk about a lot of stuff, that doesn’t really help you play more or better.

Hello Griff, I really like your methodology of teaching guitar.I worked in the music business for several years as photographer and sound engineer. I am an old would be guitar player. of the 60’s. I had a little band in junior high school and a 62 Strat and can add it to the list of things I regret selling. I have always loved the blues and now that I am 65 years old and retired I would like to try to pick a little blues. A friend gave me an acoustic to play. My hands are showing their age. I can’t download this lesson can you help. I ordered the Acoustic Blues DVD to day. Keep on teaching the blues, you are great at it.

Griff, I want to say that what you do and the way you present what you do is a real pleasure. There are several instructors that contact me via email and each can play the guitar well, but nearly all of them are pushing some dvd or yearly subscription or some special that won’t last much longer. This is the first and foremost message. You teach. You present both the how and why to everything that you do. I am a retired computer programmer and systems analysis and teach science and wanted to fulfill a long time desire to play the guitar. I know a good teacher when I see one and you sir are a good instructor. Keep doing what you do. You do it well. And yes I would gladly buy material from you when it is needed. Thanks much!

Wonderful stuff Griff. I’m bloody hopeless but this gives me hope.. in fact I can now play a Barre chord or two. I love writing stuff but being so limited I can even bore myself.. I have introduced you to my Grandson who is now downloading your lessons.. next stop, YouTube.
Howard

Great lesson. Thanks for the help. I was unable to download the video. I’ve been learning to play the guitar for about a year now. Your instruction is very helpful and has allowed this 50 year old dog to learn some new tricks.

well explained and demonstrated, been a fantastic help as allways. Practised at a steady rate instead of trying to rush it and learn to quickly the chords are ringing lovely. Thanks for the lesson and looking forward to the next. Cheers buddy.

Exellent Griff
Great video, as I still have some trouble with barre chords….# I couldn’t download the video as usual though, normally a [.wmv] file? luckily I could watch the video without any buffering, so the lesson was successful…anyone else having problems downloading to PC’s lately?..
Rock On!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brilliant Griff. Yet another gem of guitar knowledge. Watched your vid & pow, I got Barre chords, mentally & actually AND THEY RANG OUT LIKE CHURCH BELLS. Music to my ears… Literally. Thanks a so much for all the stuff you’ve given me.

Excellent lesson! really good info – slowly and methodically performed.
Griff, your lessons are always top notch and your teaching approach is
very clear and effective. Thank you for sharing your skills with us “up and cummers”.

As usual you teach in such a nice easy relaxed pace. And you never come across like you are better than anyone else and that it is a pain to teach beginners. I have sometimes felt that way with other teachers. I am a small person & it is hard to get the strength in my fingers to press a barre. I will definitely practice your method. thanks!

The way I learned to play the barre chords, and how I would have started this lesson, was to play the E shape and Am shape in the open position with my 2,3,4 fingers vice 1,2,3 fingers. The barre came naturally after that…

Hi Griff I am a senior citizen who has messed around with my guitar for years for my own amusement leaving it for months and going back. I have small hands and have always struggled with barre chords I am now going to try again with your method.Thanks, will let you know how I get on .

Hey Griff!!! 🙂 Since you’re putting this out again on emails, i wanted to ask you about something else that is above this. MAJOR 5TH-STRING-ROOT CHORDS!!! (kinda scary, isn’t it ? :P).

I mean how do you approach those ?! They are so freaking hard to learn to do!!!! Same kind of chord but minor is easy but major is something impossible to do! You’re asked to put 3 fingers in the same fret – can’t fit them all!!!! 😛

So yeah if you could address that it would be helpful. Thanks beforehand 🙂

Amazing! Not only the method Griff uses to teach the lessons (actually I just started with BBG but it already sounds good) a method that works… but then there are all these bits and pieces that he makes available. Wow! The good stuff just keeps coming!
Good on ya, Griff………. and thanks loads!

Many song require the use of barre chords for the rapid changes. For example going from A to G to F# …barre on the 5th to the 3rd to the 2nd…much easier using the barre shapes just taught in the video. With playing experience you will know what shapes to use whether it be open chords or barre chords. Making the chord shapes first and then forming the barre sure works for me. The first finger barre seems to follow along nicely .

This is a great video lesson and it sure helps me!
Thanks again Griff!

Hey Griff
First of all I have to say that I’m a beginner. I’ve always wanted to learn to play the guitar but never seemed to have the time and all of the other great excuses. Finally about six months ago I got a wild hair up and I jumped in with both feet. I’ve been getting your video’s and I think their great. This particular video come’s at the perfect time because I just finally got the open chords down pretty well and I’ve been dreading the barre chords. I just want to thank you because the video has gotten me of to a great start. I really look forward to all of the video’s that you send out so please keep them coming.
Thanks again.
Al

Hey Griff, great video lesson! I really do enjoy your videos and plan to purchase some of your products to support you. Even though I have played guitar for 10 years now, this is the first time I realized I can play the majors in the minors with the same E chord shape and I look forward to practicing this technique.

Thank you Griff, I find you’re an excellent teacher. I’m a music teacher myself, and have been teaching for almost 40 years. I find your explanations crystal clear, and the warm, encouraging feeling you convey really pleasant. So thanks again. If you decide to offer a download option for your courses, I’d be happy to buy one. I’m from Argentina, and at the present time, there might be customs issues when receiving dvd’s in a parcel, so I’m not willing to run the risk of having to go through quite some trouble and possible have to pay custom duties to get them. Besides being a music teacher, I’m a very profitient translator, so if you are ever interested in translating any of your lessons or courses, contact me.
Wishing you all the best
José Luis Tubert

Great lesson. What I have noticed that hardly any guitar players use a guitar strap to hold and position the guitar in a comfortable location when sitting to play. I use the strap even if sitting down to play, so I don’t have to rest the guitar on the right knee..

I stumbled on to this while teaching as well.
I ask them to start with fingers 2,3, and 4.
THen I tell them to keep their 1st finger as straight as they can.
Then slap it down while keeping it straight. (from the knuckle joint)

Hey Griff,
I stumbled across this video on barre chords today. I think it was great! Until watching this video I just could not seem to grasp a barre chord. The way you broke it down string by string helped me to actually see and hear the notes that were needed. Prior to this I thought I had to make every note ring out clearly to complete the barre. With this idea in place I know with some practice I will be able to add some barre chords to my playing. Once again thanks for the lesson.

Ok, now that seems easy enough, and to my suprise it was as easy as that.
Now it’s like you say, practice this and play around a bit with it and holding additional barre chords becomes less troublesome to do and to make them actually sound like their meant too.
Thanks for the lessons, it’s a good one, cheers, angus g.

Bill,
From 44 days ago, i could really realate to your post about having smalls hands and being un-able to drop the wrist far enough with out having the guitar stuck up in your face,WELL!!! i fund out my problem and maybe this will help yours. When your dropping your wrist where is your elbow?? i’ll bet if you look your elbow is out to the side CORRECT? well here is what i did and it made all the difference in the world. make sure when you drop your wrist, that your elbow is close to your side as possible. trust me i would stay away from certain songs just because of what i said about the position of my elbow.To prove what i just said, play the chord the F-SHARP- MAJOR CHORD then you will see what i mean. Ya know B.B. King had very small hands and look what he could do. Somtimes it’s the smallect little thing that makes up all the difference.how i found this out was i was guiding a man from N.J. he came down to fly-fish for Tarpon in big pine key where i live and we just started B/Sing and to come to find out he taught key-board and guitar for 50 yrs, and when we got back from fishing i ask him to come by my house which was in his way back. he taught me so many little things that had been hindering me for some time. and in the hour he spent showing me these small things made all the difference in the world. now when i go to look at a bar chord in a say i just remember those simple things he showed me, and keeping the elbow at my side made all the difference in the world. watch marty swartz girff’s buddy play that F-sharp-Chord and see where is elbow is. in time i am sure we both will automatically just hold that elbow in close but until that happens i’ll just put that little info in my radio shack recording brain i have to remember some of this stuff, good luck from one small hand person to another.
catprick

Griff, man you are funky. I really enjoyed the Barre Chords lessons. Being a beginner for all of my life it feels like, I found your smooth instructional style to be very helpful and easy. I just want to say thanks man, for giving these free lessons, I hope to start buying some of your other lessons later.

g,day Griff,what your doing here is brilliant,i,m getting up in years and i am now passing these lessons on to my grandson who only just picked up the guitar recently.It is so easy to follow.congratulations on a great product.

Brilliant lesson my man. any one readin this, i only devoted 15mins out of my daily practice time 2 this method, in 1 week the results are amazin, many thanx griff, 4a beginner,im soundin pretty good now. mark from scotland.

thanks Griff, to me you hit a home run on this one. At one point I had sent you comments about your lessons. Mainly, could not hear them and instructions sort of brushed over details that were assumed not important. For me, sometimes are the link to “getting it” and moving on via “huh?” and losing interest. And as for the volume, not all of us out here have 18 year old ears. If we cant turn the volume up, we simply cant hear your instructions. However, with this video, you helped me a whole lot. 1. the instructions were clearly detailed and with consideration, 2. the sound on the video was loud enough for “grandpa ears”. Now, I must say that I’m interested in re-signing up for your lessons. Please don’t take all the blame, I realize that the fingers points to me also. But again, thanks for kicking it up a level…finally someone that can’t play and teach.

Good stuff dose this work as well on the acoustic? And do you have any advice or lessons on playing church songs this is where I get most of my practice in with other players everyone uses acoustics thinks.

i have watched a lot of different internet vids from other instructors and i have to say no one else compares to you when it comes to making it understandable. i have started unsubscribing to the others because you make much more easy for us beginners. keep up the fantastic work….

You put out the best stuff on the web. Your a real teacher, not just a guitar player. I’m still working on one of your courses right now just because I thought it was interesting as far as getting away from scales so to speak and solo with just 4 notes. I always get something from you I can use, maybe not exactly like you play it, but that’s idea is it not. Griff check out my web site and see what I am doing to help 2 non profit organizations out, Humane Societies and Blues Societies. Keep the good stuff comimg.

Thanks griff, this is right on time for i just started dedicateing my practice time to learning barre chords. Can’t put it off any longer….gotta learn to hold those barre chords. Thanks for rocking it out for us to show an easier way .Every little bit helps.

Griff,
this is great tuition, thanks, all of your teaching is great stuff, purchased, or freebies, you always deliver the good, glad to have found a teacher like you, and hey! I don’t have to buy a plane ticket to the US for my lessons, isn’t the internet great!! well sometimes 🙂 all the best, Mike

Please help I have small hands and I’m really having problems droping my wrist with out having the guitar in my face it’s very unconfertable it’s hard to to drop my wrist and keep my thumb down and flat help please Bill

One of the best and simplest explanations I’ve seen. I’ve been trying to barre the 1st and 2nd strings instead of the 6th string (even leaving out the 6th string). I’ll try starting the way you suggested, with the 6th string.

Thanks again Griff! Great lesson & tips on how to execute barre chords! As everyone has noted you are an awesome instructor. As I have stated before your love for music and your ability to pass that to others is as bright and evident as the sun.

I have been learning so much that it is beginning to become part of me. At first it was a little difficult but as time has gown, I fin dI am now thinking chords, shapes, and tone quality. This is a wonderful video and as Ken said There is NO substiture for knowing.

A lot of times I just have my students do 3 or 4 notes of the F chord, for example the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings, or the very useful shape that uses the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th string, which is the same fingering actually as the Bm barre chord. Using this one shape students can play any regular major or minor chord enough to get through songs.

Do you think there’s a certain age where students start to have the strength to do barre chords? 10? 12? The 5 year olds can hardly do the power chords.

I was wondering why my wrist hurt so bad after only 1 minute of finger exercise. I am using a backpacker guitar which has a small body and sits lower on my leg. I never realized that was the reason I could never get my wrist to come around the finger board properly. I will use a stool or books or pail or anything to get my leg higher and try that. Thanks for all you do to help us struggling players!

Good lesson…I am one of those older self-taught guitar players who wants to learn barre chords and to play above the third fret before I die. I will be 70 y/o on May 16th.. The fingers are not as limber and flexible as when I was younger, but I have some guitars that are easier to play than others, notably electric guitars where the action is usually aways better than my acoustics, altho I have found a good luthier in my area and am getting my acoustics set up better so the action will be better. I think that is key to learning and playing barre chords. I have purchased much of your blues guitar material and I think you are a very good teacher. Thanks again for the video.
Sincerely,
Ray J.

HEY GRIFF,
THATS ONE THING I COULD NEVER DO IS PLAY A BARRE CHORD, THE PROBLEM IS THE MAN WHO TRIED TO TEACH ME TOLD ME I HAD TO COVER ALL THE STRINGS AND THEY SHOULD ALL SOUND OUT, WELL!!! WHAT HAPPENED IS THE BOTTOM E ANS B STRINGS WOULD ALWAYS SOUND LIKED YOU DESCRIBED SO WHAT A GREAT THING BUD. YOUR AND AMAZING MAN. CAN I DO THE SAME THING ON THE ACOUSTIC OR IS THERE SOMETHING DIFFERENT I NEED TO DO. YOU HAVE ME EMAIL ADDRESS.
I AM RICK FROM FLORIDA STILL HANGING ON WITH MY CANCER. HELP ME OUT ON THIS, I ALWYAS SEE PEOPLE PLAYING THE BARRE CHORDS AND I KNEW I HAD TO LEARN BUT I SEE NOW I WAS TAUGHT WRONG. SO GOD BLESS YOU. YOUR FRIEND FROM FLORIDA RICK

Thanks for the lesson…I am 52 and have been playing for about a year and a half and barre chords have eluded me.I am wondering if my fingers just won’t do it or if it would be easier on an electric(which I don’t have right now) instead of acoustic.

Excellent and well presented lesson as usual. When (not if) the time comes that this sluggish economy picks up and I am doing better with sales of my handcrafted Native American style flutes I look forward to actually being able to buy your lessons on dvd. In the meantime with this tip for inspiritaion I’ll spend more time actually “practicing” my barre chords. Thanks a million for all your helpfull lessons. Wish you all the best.

Griff, all of your lessons are very clear and clean, with good video’s quality and camera / recording work. Where you can actually see ” Clearly” what you are doing along with a good explanation and good Teaching Skill’s. You a fine example of how it should be done.Thanks for all your work and all you Courses

As a retired teacher, I am reminded of a teaching technique call Reverse Chaining. This technique is sometimes used to help children with severe learning disabilities (Not that any of us future Eric Claptons have an learning disabilities!!) Anyway, to teach a child to count to five, first have him say five, then have him say four/five, then three/four/five, etc. Now that I’ve quit worrying about the dreaded B and E strings, my barre chords are sounding much better. Thanks, Griff. Where you fifty years ago when my fingers could actually move AND bend. Love your stuff.